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It's true that the owner won't/can't remove his name from the reservation. That is the way Marriott and most TS work. You are considered the guest of the owner and the person who has authorization to check in for the week. When renting from a third party there has to be trust going both ways. The person renting could pay by CC and then the day before check in dispute the charge with their credit card. The person renting could absolutely trash the place and have used a prepaid type CC down when checking in that only had a minimal amount on it and then the TS would go after the owner for the un recovered damages. A real owner would have no reason to collect a fee from you and then cancel the reservation. They might get away with it once or even twice but then they would be called out on it on public forums and such. A legitimate owner who rents relies on having a good reputation or at minimum no bad reputation when first starting out. So yes an owner can cancel the reservation at any time but would have no reason to do so. If you don't feel comfortable with your interaction and contract/agreement with the owner or feel like things are "off" you should move on. I am not saying he isn't trying to scam you but the fact that the owners name will still remain part of the reservation is no indication that anything is wrong.